Ayub misled nation in ’65 war: Nur Khan
From our correspondent
8 September 2005
ISLAMABAD —
The 1965 war was based on a lie in which Ayub Khan and his generals misled the nation that India rather than Pakistan had provoked the war and that “we were the victims of Indian aggression”, Air Marshal Nur Khan, a war hero who led the country’s air force at the time, has said.
He said a coterie of army generals including its chief Gen Musa decided to send 8,000 infiltrators from the Pakistan army into India-held Kashmir in an abortive bid to foment Kashmiri revolt with vain hope that India would not retaliate and attack Pakistan.
Both the air force and the navy as also most of army commanders were kept in the dark and when the invasion came on September 6, 1965 with Lahore being the first Indian target, all of them, including the Lahore commander were taken by surprise.
The ‘Operation Gibraltar’, code name for infiltration into Kashmir proved a disaster as the local population did not cooperate and even helped the Indian forces to capture or kill almost all of 8,000 Pakistan army troops sneaking into the occupied territory.
Sharing his memoirs with Dawn on the 1965 war, which is celebrated as a victory in Pakistan on September 6 every year, Air Marshal (retired) Nur Khan said President Field Marshal Ayub Khan was petrified when only on the second day after India chose to attack Lahore on September 6, 1965, his army chief informed him he has another two days’ of ammunition left with him.
That was the extent of preparation in the Army. And the information had shocked Gen Ayub so much that it could have triggered his heart ailment, which overtook him a couple of years later. Ayub’s son Gohar Ayub Khan recently sparked a fierce controversy in both countries by claiming that an Indian brigadier had sold his country’s secret war plans to Ayub Khan for only Rs20, 000. His critics say the state of preparedness of Pakistan army at the time of invasion belies his claim.
Nur Khan led the air force to a heroic feat of completely dominating the air within hours of the start of the war, which it maintained till Soviet Union and the United Nations intervened to enforce a ceasefire 17 days later.
Nur Khan had replaced Asghar Khan only 43 days before the war and came close to resigning the very day he took command of Pakistan Air Force on July 23, 1965, when he learned about Operation Gibraltar. He thought the operation was a great folly that would sure provoke India to retaliate by expanding the war to international borders beyond Kashmir.
“Rumours about an impending operation were rife but the army had not shared the plans with other forces,” Air Marshal Nur Khan said. He said that he was the most disturbed man on the day, instead of feeling proud.
Air Marshal (retired) Asghar Khan while handing over the command to Nur Khan had not briefed him about any impending war because he was not aware of it himself. So, in order to double check, Nur Khan called on the then Commander-in-Chief, General Musa Khan.
Under his searching questions Gen Musa wilted and with a sheepish smile admitted that something was afoot. Lt. Gen. Malik Akhtar Hussain who led the operation said the same thing. Nur Khan’s immediate reaction was that this would mean war.
A still incredulous Nur Khan was shocked when on further inquiry he found that except for a small coterie of top generals, very few in the armed forces knew about ‘Operation Gibraltar’. He asked himself how good, intelligent and professional people like Musa and Malik could be so ‘naive, so irresponsible’.
For the air marshal, it was unbelievable. Even the then Lahore garrison commander had not been taken into confidence. And governor of West Pakistan, Malik Amir Mohammad Khan of Kalabagh did not know what was afoot and had gone to Murree for vacations.
It was at this point that he felt like resigning and going home. But then he thought such a rash move would further undermine the country’s interests. Therefore, he kept his cool and went about counting his chickens — the entire air force was too young and too inexperienced to be called anything else then — and gearing up his service for the D-day.
The miracle that the PAF achieved on September 6, to a large extent, is attributed to Nur Khan’s leadership. He led his force from up front and set personal example by going on some highly risky sorties himself. But he credits Asghar Khan for turning the PAF as a highly professional, well oiled and dedicated fighting machine since he was named its chief in 1957.
The performance of the Army did not match that of the PAF mainly because the leadership was not as professional. “They had planned the ‘Operation Gibraltar’ for self-glory rather than in the national interest. It was a wrong war. And they misled the nation with a big lie that India rather than Pakistan had provoked the war and that we were the victims of Indian aggression”, Air Marshal Khan said.
This in short is Nur Khan’s version of 1965 war, which he calls an unnecessary war and says that President Ayub for whom he has the greatest regard should have held his senior generals accountable for the debacle and himself resigned.
Khaleej Times Online - Ayub misled nation in ’65 war: Nur Khan
